Who'd Have Thought?
by moonswirl
Summary: L/L, R/tba - Luke and Lorelai, with their respective dates, get drawn into a double date. Rory goes out and meets a charming guy...


"Who'd Have Thought?"  
  
A Java Junkie Fanfiction by Moonie  
  
Disclaimer: It's noooot mine!  
  
Plot: Luke and Lorelai, with their respective dates, get drawn into a double date. What happens there, you gotta read on to find out! Also, Rory goes out and meets a charming guy, potentially a fun summer fling…  
  
Spoilers: Anything up to the end of season three. This starts somewhere between three and four, I don't know exactly how they're gonna start it so… okay :)  
  
Pairing: See 'Java Junkie' ;) Also Rory/SF  
  
Rating: PG  
  
A/N: This one's for all the people at the JJ thread at FF, to which I'd like to say a big Howdy! :) And a bit thanks to Kitty for helping with the Europe stuff :)  
  
"You're gonna drop it!" Rory told her mother.  
  
"I will not drop it, in fact I'm thinking of making it my new career!"  
  
"You want to be a… Wait, what career is this?"  
  
"Balancing too many boxes, of course."  
  
"That's a career?"  
  
"It will be! How much further?"  
  
"Almost there. I don't see why you had to carry them like that," she stood behind her mother, ready to spring into action.  
  
"You'd be surprised the things I'd do after so long without that heavenly coffee of Luke's."  
  
"I'd also be unwilling to find out."  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
"Two steps… And I don't remember how we managed to make our way around Europe with so much stuff!"  
  
"I'm also an excellent… packer. Get the door, please?" Rory did as told and Lorelai walked in. "Luke? You there? Make a sound!"  
  
"Geez!"  
  
"Oh how long I've waited to hear that!" Lorelai smiled from beneath the stack of boxes as it was taken from her and placed on the counter. Luke turned back to her. "Come here you!" she hugged him. "You're a sight for sore eyes!"  
  
"Welcome home," he gave a smile as she pulled away. "How was Europe?"  
  
"Big and full of Europeans if you'd believe it."  
  
"Well, Stars Hollow wasn't the same without you," he told her before turning to Rory. "Hey, welcome back," he hugged her as well.  
  
"Thanks Luke," she smiled.  
  
"What's all this?" he pointed to the boxes.  
  
"Souvenirs. The box on top is yours," Lorelai explained. "But you can open it later…"  
  
"Which means she wants you to open it now," Rory told Luke as the Gilmores sat at the counter.  
  
"I got it," he went behind the counter and grabbed the box on top, placing it in front of him. His name was written in big red letters on the top. "Alright…" he opened the box and Lorelai had a huge grin on her face. The first item he grabbed caused different reactions in them. Lorelai giggled, Luke went wide-eyed and Rory seemed to be blushing.  
  
"I tried to stop her…" she explained to Luke.  
  
"You like teddy bears, don't you? These two seem to like each other anyway… Look at the cute little leather outfits, and the itty-bitty chains, the whip is my favorite part…" Lorelai laughed as Luke got more and more red in the face. He put the bears down and almost looked afraid to look at what else was in the box. Lorelai turned when one customer complained that he'd been waiting for his food. "You keep looking, I'll take care of it," she hopped off her stool and went to stand behind the counter.  
  
"Now hang on…" he told her, but she wouldn't hear it.  
  
"Relax, I'm not gonna burn the place down Luke." He sighed and turned to Rory.  
  
"I think she's been homesick," she told him. He nodded. "Go on, keep looking. I promise the rest of the souvenirs didn't come from…" Her cheeks got rosy again and he stopped her.  
  
"Okay, okay." He picked up a bag and pulled a shirt out of it.  
  
"Oh, we got that one in Austria. People seem to mistake it with Australia a lot, so they have all these shirts that say something about not being Australia…" Luke smiled.  
  
"Well it's an honest mistake…"  
  
"That's what I said too…"  
  
"Coming through!" Lorelai passed by with some plates balanced in her arms.  
  
"Be careful with those!" Luke told her. She looked like she might drop one at some point, then suddenly regained her balance and sent a wink Luke's way when she saw the panic in his eyes. "I swear one day, she's going to…" He shrugged it off and looked back in the box. He picked up a carefully wrapped package. "What's this?"  
  
"Oh… I think that's the one we got from France. Open it." Luke unwrapped the package and he seemed surprised at what he found.  
  
"This looks expensive…"  
  
"It's from a perfume museum, well the shop at the museum… It was really great." He opened the bottle and sniffed the contents. "Smells good, uh?"  
  
"Yeah…" He looked up at Lorelai just as she placed some plates down and looked at him. Rory looked between the two of them and sensed a conversation was coming in where she wouldn't really be 'welcomed'.  
  
"I'm gonna go… deliver the souvenir boxes. Later." She grabbed the stack and headed out. Lorelai went into the kitchen and Luke followed.  
  
"So… how was the cruise?" she asked him, flipping a couple of patties.  
  
"It was okay… Realized it wasn't really 'my thing' just as we were leaving. But I adjusted."  
  
"Good! That's good… You deserve to relax," she nodded.  
  
"Yeah…"  
  
"And how's Nicole?"  
  
"She's good. She's visiting relatives right now, coming back in a day or two."  
  
"I see. Anything… interesting… happen between the two of you?" she smirked.  
  
"Well we didn't get as friendly as those bears, but we enjoyed ourselves."  
  
"Wow… You're just… popping with fun…" she mentally slapped herself for lack of subtlety.  
  
"Yeah… I think she was expecting some things to happen that didn't, so I had to make up for it, you know?"  
  
"Yeah…" she nodded as she suddenly pulled her hand away. She sucked on her thumb after she thoughts she burned it.  
  
"Are you okay?" Luke asked in concern.  
  
"I'm fine…"  
  
"Let me see," he carefully took her hand. She unbent her fingers and he examined her thumb. "You're alright, but you should be more careful…" he told her, slowly letting go.  
  
"Will do." There was a pause. "I should go home, start to unpack…"  
  
"And I should get back to work."  
  
"Yeah, you left the bears out on the counter…" He bolted out of the room so fast she nearly fell down as she laughed.  
  
*  
  
After her run of deliveries, Rory returned home. She fell back on her bed with a sigh. It was good to be back on her own bed. They hadn't always been uncomfortable, but there was nothing like that bed in the world. She hadn't been down five seconds before the phone rang. With a grunt, she got up and went to pick it up.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Finally!" was the greeting she got from the caller. She knew who it was right away.  
  
"Hey Paris," she went to sit on her bed again.  
  
"Weren't you supposed to be back two days ago?"  
  
"Yeah, we decided to stay in Spain a bit longer…"  
  
"I see. Well guess what…"  
  
"Mm…" Rory lied back. "You're going out on tour across America?"  
  
"No, we're going to be fellow students yet again!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I got in to Yale! At first the thought of going anywhere other than Harvard seemed like a fate worst than death, but now I know… Yale is better."  
  
"I see…"  
  
"I mean I should have seen it from the start, but I was so hypnotized by The Other Place that I didn't even think about it."  
  
"Well that's great Paris…" Rory started, but she was interrupted again.  
  
"I thought we should celebrate, and go someplace all together. Of course since Louise and Madeline are recovering from being sunburned to a crisp, that 'all' is only three people if you're coming. I was thinking you could bring that friend of yours, the one with the street-like name…"  
  
"Lane?"  
  
"Yes. Does she have a boyfriend?"  
  
"Last I heard…"  
  
"Great, then tell them to come. I've e-mailed you the directions and address."  
  
"Okay…"  
  
"Well, I have to go, I'm still reading up on Yale. Did you know that the music library was named after a man named Irving S. Gilmore?"  
  
"Uh-huh. Mom tried to find out if we were related so maybe we wouldn't have to pay as much, but that was a bust."  
  
"Shame… Well, I'll see you tomorrow night!"  
  
"Bye Paris…" She hung up the phone with a sigh. Part of her was glad she'd be there, then she'd know someone. But with how their relationship had gone from time to time to the point of recurring migraines when they weren't on speaking terms, the prospect of that happening at Yale wasn't reassuring her. After a few seconds she picked up the phone and dialed Lane's number.  
  
Not long after, her mother arrived. "Rory?" she called.  
  
"I'm in my room!" she directed her over.  
  
"You look tired she came to sit next to her as Rory sat up.  
  
"Paris called. She got into Yale and she wants us to go out and celebrate tomorrow night."  
  
"Aww, that's good."  
  
"Yeah. So… what did you and Luke talk about?" she asked with a smile.  
  
"Things…"  
  
"What things?"  
  
"Grown-up things…"  
  
"Excuse me, am I five?"  
  
"Sometimes I wish you were…"  
  
"Mom, we have to talk."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Luke…"  
  
"What about Luke?"  
  
"You know what. You know…"  
  
"No, I don't know Rory, okay? What about Luke?"  
  
"Through the whole trip, it was Luke…"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"In Spain the bulls reminded you of Luke…"  
  
"They looked grumpy."  
  
"In Paris, that waiter reminded you of Luke…"  
  
"Again with the grumpy."  
  
"Rome, Amsterdam, Vienna, Luke, Luke, Luke…"  
  
"That's not fair…"  
  
"You know I don't mind the odd fixation, but…"  
  
"I am not fixated…"  
  
"You are too."  
  
"Am not."  
  
"What are you thinking about right now?" Rory tested her.  
  
"That my daughter needs to get her head checked."  
  
"Mom…"  
  
"I am not fixated!" she stood. "I'm going to go take a walk." She walked out of the room. Rory smiled and pulled up her backpack, which was mostly filled with books she'd bought on their different stops. She grabbed a particularly heavy one out and opened it to her bookmark still smiling.  
  
*  
  
"She says I'm fixated… She's the one who complained of back problems 'cause she bought all those books…" Lorelai grumbled as she walked around Stars Hollow. Not really navigating herself toward a particular spot and having walked for nearly an hour she found herself arriving near the lake.  
  
There she was surprised to find a stack of clothes near the edge. On top of the pile were a folded flannel shirt and a cap. Quickly ducking behind a tree she spotted the object of her supposed fixation swimming laps not too far away. She watched in silence for a few minutes before he suddenly looked up and saw her. There was no point running away, so she walked over to stand near the clothes. He swam over.  
  
"I hope you're wearing something under all that water," she grinned.  
  
"I'm not the skinny-dipping type, what can I say?"  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be working?"  
  
"I'm on break."  
  
"I see."  
  
"Care to join me?"  
  
"Sorry, I left my bathing suit in my other pants."  
  
"Well it's not a Speedo I have on here."  
  
"Luke, I'm shocked!" she gasped. She picked up the clothes. "For that, I just might have to…"  
  
"Lorelai, don't…"  
  
"Don't what?" she asked, as the clothes slipped out of her grasp and into the water.  
  
"Lorelai!" he went to get them before they were completely submerged.  
  
"I'm sorry, it was an accident, really!" she insisted.  
  
"Yeah, sure," he pulled her leg and she fell into the lake with him. She screamed before splashing in. She came to float next to him, pushing back the hair sticking to her face.  
  
"I wasn't lying, alright?" she smacked his arm. "How can you… the water's freezing!" she shivered.  
  
"Well, now we're even…"  
  
"And your clothes are floating away," she pointed. He took off swimming and she followed. "You'll never reach them!" she told him. He started to turn to her and didn't see he was heading for the bridge. He bumped his head on it but managed to grasp it. "Luke! Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah…" he winced as he touched his forehead.  
  
"You've got a cut… This is just not our day, first my thumb, now your forehead…"  
  
"How are we going to get back? My clothes are gone and I don't know about you but I don't feel like taking a stroll through town in my underwear."  
  
"Come on…" The two got out of the water and Lorelai handed him her vest. It was soaked too but it was wrapped around him in a certain way that it would be enough for now. Quickly they started their way around, sneaking by and passing through more 'hidden' locations before finally arriving behind Luke's diner. They went up a ladder and into the apartment above.  
  
"I'm so, so sorry Luke, really…" Lorelai felt awful.  
  
"Don't worry about it." He got a look at her, all wet and clothes sticking. He looked away. "I'll get you something to change into and you can put your stuff in the dryer."  
  
"It's okay, I'll find my way around, just go change then I'll take care of that cut."  
  
"Promise me you won't do anything…"  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Never mind." He grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom. Once he was gone, she went to his closet and looked around. She found one of many flannel shirts and smiled.  
  
"He really is like a cartoon character…" With a grin she grabbed one of the shirts. She pulled off the drenched shirt, pants, shoes and socks, and slipped on the shirt. It was warm, comforting, and it felt like the best thing she'd ever had on. She hurried to get the clothes in the dryer, found the first-aid kit and went to sit on the couch. When Luke walked out of the bathroom he had on a pair of pants and was pulling a shirt on. She smiled and when he saw her he did too.  
  
"It… looks good on you."  
  
"Thanks. Now come on, let Nurse Lorelai look at that cut." He tried to comment but she gave him one mean glare.  
  
"Fine, fine." He went to sit next to her. "Just be careful."  
  
"Relax, I've done this a million times! Well, maybe… a thousand… a hundred…" She cleared her throat and opened the kit. She started cleaning the cut, then when that was done placed a small bandage on the area. "There," she smoothed out the edges, "Is that better or what?" She grinned, he smiled.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No problem." They remained silent for a few seconds before Luke stood and grabbed the trash from the bandage and disinfectant and the kit and headed to other room. Lorelai sat back on the couch, sitting on her legs. "So what do you want to do now?" she called out just as the door opened. Lorelai gasped and fell down. She looked up to see who it was just as Luke came back in.  
  
"Hey, you alright?" he asked her just as he noticed who had arrived. "Nicole? What are you doing here, I thought you were…"  
  
"I came back early…" she explained, keeping her eyes on Lorelai, who was standing and sitting again, trying to pull the shirt down to cover as much as possible. "What's going on here and what happened to your head?" she asked, walking up to him.  
  
"I bumped my head…" he explained.  
  
"And you're wet because…"  
  
"I was in the lake…" he continued.  
  
"Then why is she wet?" she nodded toward Lorelai, who suddenly felt like she was caught in the glare of a spotlight.  
  
"I, uh…"  
  
"She jumped in there to help me out…" Luke cut in. Nicole didn't seem to fully believe him but she dropped the subject anyhow when Lorelai stood and spoke.  
  
"Uh, I should get going anyway, I have to get ready for tonight…"  
  
"What's tonight?" Luke asked.  
  
"I'm going to dinner with Alex, he got us reservations at this new place just outside of town 'Plateau D'Argent'… It's supposed to be really good."  
  
"Oh I've heard about that…" Nicole told Lorelai, "I've been trying to get in but they're always booked."  
  
"Well hey, I can check with him, see if he can get us two more spots, you guys can come along." She didn't know what had pushed her to say it, but now there it was, too late to take it back.  
  
"Like a double date?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Uh, sure, why not?" She shrugged, though she saw Luke's face was taking to a very odd color.  
  
"That sounds great! Well just let Luke know if it works out, I have to head to the office for now." She gave Luke a quick kiss and headed off. Once she was gone, Lorelai turned to Luke.  
  
"I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me, the words just tumbled out before I could stop them! Bad Lorelai, bad!" she pretended to smack her hand.  
  
"It's okay… I mean it can't be that bad, right?"  
  
"Right," Lorelai nodded.  
  
"A double date…" Luke repeated. Lorelai nodded again with a shy smile.  
  
*  
  
Later that day… At Lorelai and Rory's home  
  
"Lane, please? I didn't know she would reschedule… Don't you owe me at least one favor? Thank you… Be here in an hour. I'm sorry, she just called! I'll convince her if I have to. Thank you! I'll see you then, bye." Rory hung up the phone with a sigh. Somehow she should have seen this coming. Paris had called and told her that they had to do this celebration that night instead of the next. So managing speed she didn't know she had, she showered, dressed, and prepared herself for the evening. And since she had no idea what kind of place they were going to, she settled for a casual yet proper look.  
  
Over in her room, Lorelai was having a crisis of her own. "You guys can come along," she spoke in a high voice. "Why not?" She grabbed her hairbrush and started on her hair.  
  
"Mom?" Rory walked in. Lorelai turned to her.  
  
"Honey, one day you're going to realize you might have some predisposition toward letting your mouth run on, me and my genes are ready to take the blame."  
  
"Uh?"  
  
"Your fabulous mother got herself in a bit of a situation tonight all by herself…"  
  
"I thought you were going out to dinner with Alex…"  
  
"Alex, and Luke, and Nicole," Lorelai corrected.  
  
"Am I missing something here?"  
  
"Well it wasn't my fault, I just wanted to get out of there before she started yelling at me," Lorelai put down the brush with a sigh.  
  
"Who, Nicole? Why would she yell at you?"  
  
"Maybe because I was sitting on Luke's couch all wet in nothing but my underwear and that," she said all in one big breath, pointing to the shirt sitting on her bed. Rory looked at it.  
  
"Uh, Mom…" she started, looking at her shoes for a second, "What did you do?"  
  
"Nothing! It's Luke, he's the one that pulled me into the lake!" Rory gave her a look. "You say I'm fixated again I will kick that cute tush of yours."  
  
"Don't have to," she smirked. Lorelai huffed.  
  
"So why are you all dressed up? I thought you were going to do that thing where you read a lot tonight," Lorelai told her as she put on a necklace.  
  
"That's what I thought too, and then Paris rescheduled her little celebration. I had to convince Lane and Dave to reschedule too… not easy."  
  
"I see… Do you need a ride?"  
  
"Paris is coming to pick us up," Rory explained.  
  
"That's nice."  
  
"Yeah." At that moment the doorbell rang.  
  
"That must be Alex."  
  
"I'll get it," Rory ran out of the room, down the stairs and to the door. "Hey Alex," she greeted the man.  
  
"Hello Rory, is your mother ready?"  
  
"Almost. Come on in." Alex walked in and stopped next to the door. "It shouldn't be long." The words were barely out of her mouth that she could hear her mother coming down the stairs. "Scratch that, she's ready."  
  
"Hi there," Lorelai smiled at him.  
  
"You look amazing, as usual."  
  
"Aww, thanks!"  
  
"Are they driving with us?"  
  
"No, they said they'd meet us there."  
  
"Alright then, let's get going. We wouldn't want to be late."  
  
"Oui, oui…" said Lorelai before starting to laugh.  
  
"Have fun," Rory told them as they left. 


End file.
